Imagine yourself in Barnum 008 halfway through a lecture as a group of armed soldiers storms into the lecture hall, arrests your professor, imprisons your classmates and confiscates all your class materials. While this story may seem only imaginary to those of us at Tufts, for college students who are members of the Baha'i faith in Iran, it is a stark reality. The Baha'i faith, a religion whose primary mission is to promote and bring into reality the principles of the oneness of God, the oneness of religion and the oneness of humankind, is Iran's largest religion after Islam. Its members have suffered horrific persecutions at the hands of the Iranian government since the faith was founded in the mid 1840s, and this persecution has intensified in the past three decades.
Most recently, Iranian Baha'is have been denied their right to higher education. It is now the policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran to forbid Baha'is from entering postsecondary educational institutions, resulting in what has been called a "cultural genocide." Faced with no other options, the Baha'is of Iran devised a peaceful solution, by teaching their own young people through the formation of the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) which at present is the only means by which Baha'is may obtain a university education.
However, this May, the Iranian regime conducted a multi−city raid against BIHE faculty members and students. It shut down this peaceful initiative by arresting professors, imprisoning administrators and confiscating educational materials. The Iranian government repeatedly fails to present any reasonable or justifiable evidence to substantiate their actions toward these university students. They charge that BIHE participants are conspiring against the state, despite the fact that Baha'is, according to their own tenets, must obey their government, which they have done without compromise.
In condemning the Iranian government's actions, worldwide awareness and support are mounting among students, professors, university leaders, Nobel laureates, theologians and heads of state. The Iranian regime's assault against these university students is a blatant denial of Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Iran is a signatory. Article 26 unequivocally states, "Everyone has the right to education." It expects that "higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit," and not on religious, political or ideological affiliations. Denying an entire community their universal right to education is to divest them of their greatest means for progress, not only for its individuals but also for society.
There are many ways Tufts students, faculty and administrators can help Iranian university students in their effort to reclaim the right to higher education, and thus preserve the integrity of this ideal. The "Education Under Fire" campaign (EducationUnderFire.com), along with the Baha'i Association at Tufts, invites you to a screening of the documentary, "Education Under Fire," this Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at Wheelock College in the Wheelock Family Theater. By addressing the plight of Baha'is in Iran, the campaign seeks to increase awareness and shed a light on the importance of Article 26, ultimately aiming to motivate university professors, administrators, and students to take some action. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Tufts alumnus, and Baha'i, Rainn Wilson, Emmy−nominated actor of NBC's "The Office." (Admission to the event is free). In addition, we call on our fellow students, professors, deans and president to join the chorus of voices to dispel this injustice.
As we sit in our Tufts classrooms today, we would do well to remember the significance of our universal human right to be educated, in an environment free of harassment and discrimination. What would it mean for our lives if we were denied our inalienable right? Let us, as members of the worldwide academic community, speak out against this injustice in Iran.
--
NavidShahidinejad is a sophomore
majoring in international relations. He is
a member of the Tufts Baha'i Association.
